Miho the Killer
Chapter 37: Planning

Chapter 37: Planning

By the time we arrived home, Miho was sound asleep. Due to the dinner ’date’ with Kwon and a little incident I had with Shin, it was already quite late. A little over 10 PM.

I sat by the dinner table and the old man made some capsule coffee for me without me asking. This had become a routine pretty much every time we get back home from work. Once ready, he came by and set the mug in front of me, and took the seat at the opposite end of the table.

"So who is he and how do you want him dead?"

Shin asked, casually sipping.

My heart was beating hard. I was just about to place an order to have someone killed. This was something totally different from leaving Miho behind, and letting her die in a pool of blood.

This was a premeditated, cold-blood murder.

The only redeeming grace was that I wasn’t doing it with my own hands, but Kwon didn’t kill Minji with his own hands either.

Why was I doing this?

Was this the correct thing to do?

Did Minji matter that much to me that I felt compelled to discard whatever morality I had to issue a murder contract just to revenge for her?

It was a strange feeling.

Minji was never that close to me. I considered her a friend, but pretty much everyone was her friend. I could have lived my life without her. She could have died from a car crash and I wouldn’t have thought about her much after attending her funeral.

But I saw her get burnt alive.

By Miho.

Was that what made the difference?

Or was this all about me again? Trying to wash away the guilt of letting Miho get away with murders I knew she committed, ultimately leading her to kill Minji.

Perhaps that was it. But I felt there was more to it.

I accepted and was even fascinated by Miho’s work. I watched her butcher my boss the first day I met her. Yet I didn’t think of it as a bad thing - as absurd as that sounds.

But I could not accept that Miho killed Minji. In some ways, getting Kwon to pay the price for having Minji felt like releasing Miho of her responsibility for Minji’s death. Kwon got Miho to kill my friend. I get Shin to kill Kwon. It all evened out.

And only I would be left as the last one with the guilt, my hands dirty yet clean.

"No pulling out now. Your body is collateral. The job has commenced. I’m waiting for the order."

Shin gave me a push with his piercing eyes. There was no emotion behind them. No killing intent. Business like. Too business-like.

"OK."

"I’ll get it done this week. But I need to know the details to plan. Tell me everything I should know and how you want this to be done."

I took out the business card I received from Kwon and slid it across the table. I felt like a real criminal now.

Shin picked it up, studied it on both sides, and put it down on the table.

"Look. We shouldn’t just kill this guy."

"I thought you said no pulling out?"

"That’s not what I meant. I will do it. You can be absolutely sure that this man is going to be dead. But I would like to make a request. You can accept or reject as a client."

"What’s your request?"

"When we get a contract, we are not allowed to do anything more than carry out what has been commissioned. That means things like taking the target’s property is out of the question."

"Right."

"This guy’s rich. I can tell. And after all, you know we need money."

The old man was right. Having this guy killed was a contract that came from me and the reward was my body. There was no financial gain for any of us. But the whole reason why Miho and Shin were doing what they did was for money.

But then again. This was crossing yet another boundary. Letting Shin do what he seemed to be implying meant that I wasn’t only getting involved in having a man killed, but having him killed for money.

"You are free to decline. It is just something for you to think about."

"I will think about it. What difference would it make?"

"If I was going to do more than just kill him. I’d like to have another week. It takes time to get a guy to dig up all his riches and hand them over before meeting his end. I need him to break his savings. Cash out his investments. Sell his properties. These things take time."

"And how are you going to get him to do that?"

"It’s an easy work. Remember what I told you about why I was blindfolding you on the way to Juho?"

Nobody can hold through torture.

A shiver went down my spine.

But I had a certain type of death in my mind for Kwon, which was absolutely horrible in its own way too. It’s just that he deserved that particular way of parting with this world.

"I thought about it. You are free to do as you wish."

"OK. Two weeks it is then. How do you want it to be done?"

"Burnt alive."

"That’s bad taste. And not practical."

"You are talking about torturing the guy to shake every single penny out of him and saying I have ’bad taste’?"

"Burning body produces smoke. Smoke is not easy to handle, both indoors and outdoors."

Well, that much was true.

"Does it have to be burning?" Shin asked again.

"Yes." But this wasn’t something I could compromise. I’ve already crossed the river. There was no turning back in my mind.

"Sigh... no helping it then. But may I suggest something?"

"Sure."

"Acid burns. That’s also ’burning’, technically, no?"

"But... it does not have the same effect."

The whole point was killing the guy with the same method and effect, inflicting the exactly same pain.

"There are pros and cons. It sounds like you want him to suffer. Fireburn is more immediate pain. Extremely intense pain. Acid burn, on the other hand, is more ongoing and longer-lasting pain. You can make him suffer for longer. Again, it’s bad taste. But who am I to argue?"

Longer... ongoing suffering...

"...undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."

"What are you talking about?"

"Acid will do."

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